Junior Worlds - Ladies

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the Junior Ladies competition; however, I feel compelled to write about the results. After the short program the results looked as follows:

1 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI
2 Ashley WAGNER
3 Alena LEONOVA
4 Joshi HELGESSON
5 Katrina HACKER
6 Ivana REITMAYEROVA
7 Francesca RIO
8 Isabel DRESCHER
9 Sarah HECKEN
10 Caroline ZHANG

Caroline Zhang had a disaster of a free skate, and nobody would have predicted her placing lower than Katrina Hacker, the reserve for the USA. This led Phil Hersch to write a characteristically scathing article about Zhang.

So here was Zhang, fresh off a solid fourth at Four Continents in a field in which the top three finishers could also be the top three at worlds. And then, to put it simply, she fell apart.

Her short program score, 47.64, was the lowest Zhang has recorded in a short program at an international event since her debut, on the Junior Grand Prix, in 2006. The two previous lows, 51.76 and 53.28, came at senior Grand Prix events this season.

Zhang’s technical score Friday was so poor it was beaten by 19 other skaters. Nineteen!

However, Mr Hersch is going to have to eat his words after he claimed:

Zhang was world junior champion in 2007 and world junior silver medalist in 2008. Now it will be very surprising for her to win any medal. Such regression raises a lot of questions -- coaching, commitment -- she will need to answer before next season.

Instead, Caroline managed to successfully defend last year's silver medal by pulling herself up eight places with an excellent free skate. The final scores were:

1 Alena LEONOVA RUS
157.18 3 2
2 Caroline ZHANG USA
154.67 10 1
3 Ashley WAGNER USA
153.57 2 3
4 Joshi HELGESSON SWE
139.89 4 6
5 Katrina HACKER USA
139.68 5 4
6 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO
138.32 1 11
7 Sarah HECKEN GER
135.83 9 5
8 Ivana REITMAYEROVA SVK
129.40 6 8
9 Oksana GOZEVA RUS
126.70 15 7
10 Isabel DRESCHER GER
126.65 8 10

Now who would have predicted that? After the event, Caroline spoke the reporters and revealed her disappointment.

“I made a lot of mistakes (in the Short Program). It was kind of like it gave away most chances for the title. But I think I did well in the long program, coming back. So I’m happy with my performance today”, the 15-year-old said. “I tried to refocus after the Short Program, tried not to think about it, because all I wanted was to give the best I could today and I think I did it pretty well. I’m still disappointed; I think it was stupid, all the mistakes in the Short”, she sighed.

Congratulations to Alena; she is the first Russian Lady to medal at Junior Worlds since Kristina Oblasova in 2001, and she was definitely not expected to win in Sofia, after placing sixth last year. Elene Gedevanishvili must be disappointed not to get on the podium after leading in the short; however, her season is not yet over, as she will be competing at Senior Worlds for the fourth time in March.

Today's Program of the Day goes to Caroline Zhang; her long program from US Nationals in January. Definitely shows her development, and spins and spirals are exquisite, as always.